Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed AbbVie logo on this illustration taken on May 21, 2021.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
AbbVie on Tuesday said longtime executive Robert Michael will change into the corporate’s recent CEO, replacing Richard Gonzalez.
Michael, who’s AbbVie’s president and chief operating officer, will change into the corporate’s second-ever CEO on July 1. Gonzalez, who has led the corporate because it spun out from Abbott Laboratories in 2013, will retire and change into AbbVie’s executive chairman.
The announcement marks an end to Gonzalez’s successful stint as the highest executive of AbbVie, which transformed into one in every of the most important firms within the biotech and pharmaceutical industry in lower than a decade.
It also comes as AbbVie grapples with one in every of the pharmaceutical industry’s biggest losses of exclusivity, as its blockbuster autoimmune drug Humira faces fresh biosimilar competition. But the corporate is pinning its hopes on a pair of newer immunology drugs, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, to offset the losses from Humira.
AbbVie expects those two drugs to post $16 billion in sales this 12 months and $27 billion by 2027, executives said during an earnings call earlier this month.
“The board and I actually have been planning for a seamless CEO succession for a while. Now’s the opportune time handy the CEO role over to Rob,” Gonzalez said in a release. “The business is performing thoroughly and is in a robust position for the long run. Our pipeline accommodates multiple promising candidates to sustain our future strong growth.”
Michael has spent greater than a decade climbing the C-suite ranks at AbbVie, playing a key role in executing recent deals such as the corporate’s acquisition of neuroscience drugmaker Cerevel Therapeutics and cancer drug developer ImmunoGen.
He previously spent nearly 20 years at Abbott Laboratories, overseeing business divisions such as molecular diagnostics and nutrition supply chain.
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